Try, dont cry

She couldn’t remember anything.

None of the questions in front of her made sense.

Most of her papers were still blank. There were only 15 minutes left.

What was she supposed to do?

All she could think about was the mocking of the other students, the way they would look down at her. How her father would look at her. Her mothers eyes, full of sorrow.

There was no way she could put up with that. So she started writing.
She wrote whatever she could think of, no matter if it was incorrect.


Ava tried her best not to talk about the exam at all once the time was up.

Though some classmates shot her weird looks, ones she couldn’t figure out what they meant, she stayed silent.



Unfortunately, it only took so long until they received their exams. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears.

That feeling of relaxation after an exam, knowing one of the best scores was given to her, she wanted that back.

It was too late. Just because she wanted to… defy her father? She wasn’t sure what the actual reason was.

I believe you are.

Her heart only beat faster when the teacher continued handing out papers.

Ava saw him shoot a glance towards her, and almost suddenly, the teacher was standing beside her. She couldn’t look into the teachers’ eyes. She was afraid of what she might see.

‘Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe I got an average score again.’
Sudden positive thoughts started flooding her head.
Likely to ignore the truth she couldn’t face.

It’s like time slowed to a halt, the papers on her desk waiting to reveal what she feared.

Unknowingly holding her breath, she flipped the pages.
One by one, ignoring the unusual amount of red markings on each page, the last paper came into view.

She scanned over it once, finding the scores at the bottom of the page.

The classroom was so hot, she noticed, it felt suffocating.

She noticed an ounce of hope at her core, there was still a chance, right?

Her mark read ’12/79′.